Optical networks use optical fibers for delivering high-speed content to customer premises. Generally, optical fibers are capable of providing Gigabit data transfer rates for both uplink and downlink connections between a content source and the customer premises. However, build costs associated with deploying paths of optical fibers from an access point or node of the optical network to each customer premises is costly and may also face unforeseen delays due to zoning ordinances.
Free-space optics may address the foregoing challenges associated with deploying conventional fiber by offering wide bandwidth and high data rates to provide the increasing demand for broadband traffic driven by internet access (e.g., unicast) and high-definition TV (e.g., multicast). Unlike radio frequencies, free-space optics technology also advantageously uses wavelengths in a license-free spectrum and generally exhibits high information security due to the line of sight between a transmitting terminal and a receiving terminal being difficult to intercept. However, due to the high directivity of light beams, free-space optics has generally been reserved for single point to point communication links. Therefore, the coverage and addressable market for free-space optics is generally limited to static communications between single buildings. While multi-beam free-space optics endpoints have been proposed using a lens assembly and a planar array of communication devices, these systems cannot be dynamically steered, and therefore, make provisioning static and non-flexible.